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' KNITTED FABRIC.

No. 381,899. Patent ed May 1, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. APPLETON,

OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO LUD\VIG SUTRO, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

KNlTTED FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,899, dated May 1,1888.

Application filed July 16, 1857. Serial No. 241,445. (Specimens) .beingto producea fabric of this character,

which shall be adapted for use as a braid or otherwise for ornamentaland other purposes. The fabric which I have designed for this use, andwhich forms the subject of the present application, is characterized bybeing composed of two independentyarns, each of which isinterlooped withitself and interlocked with the other in such a manner as to form a firmand homogeneous fabric,with the loops of one yarn lying wholly upon oneface and the loops of the other yarn appearing wholly upon the otherface thereof.

To enable others to understand and use my invention, I shall describe,briefly, the machinery which I prefer to employ for the manufacture ofmy improved fabric, and will then describe the method of making and thestructure of said fabric. I would remark, however, at this time thatthis application for patent is directed only to the fabric itself. Themachine for making it, while here describedin so far as necessary toexplain my invention, is the subject of a separate application in myname for Letters Patent of even date herewith. Referring to theaccompanyingdrawings, wherein the nature of my invention will more fullyappear, Figure 1 is an isometric projection ofastraightknittingn1acl1ine,upon which my improved fabric may be produced; Figs. 2 and 3,edge views of my improved fabric, showing the formation thereof and themanner in which the loops formed by the two yarns are interlocked, thefirst of these'figures illustrating the loops after the cam-bars havemoved to the right in Figs. 1 and 2, and the other the arrangementthereof after the said bars have moved to the left, and Figs. 4 and5,dia-

grams illustrating the operation of the needles in the formation of thefabric, Fig. 4 showing such operation as the cam-bars are moving to theright in Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 5 said operation when moving toward theleft therein. These two figures also show the relative arrangement ofthe V-shaped portions of the needle-actuating grooves in the cam-barswith respect to each other.

In all the figures like letters designate corresponding parts.

A A are brackets or standards, to which are secured the horizontal andvertical needle-bars O O; and B is the main driving-shaft provided withthe fast and loose pulleys b b, through which the various parts of themachine are operated.

c c are the grooves for the reception of the needles d d, which arefitted to the slide therein; and D D are the canrbars, by means of whichsuch needles are operated, the same being connected by the armsff andposts g g, and provided in their under side with the needleactuatinggrooves E, which are constructed with the usual V'shaped portions E Eand knockover depressions k k. These V-shaped portions, instead ofbeingso disposed as to bring-their apices in the same vertical lines,are arranged upon opposite sides thereof, as shown in dotted lines inFigs. 4 and 5, in order that the set of horizontal and the set ofvertical needles may each form the yarn supplied to it into plain loopsand interlock such loops with the loops of the other set, as will. morefully hereinafter appear.

F F are the carriers for delivering the yarn to the horizontal andvertical needles,.respectively, the same being provided with theguideeyes 0 and l, and H H are the take-up levers for taking up andcontrolling the slack of such yarn. These levers are each constructedwith an orifice, t, in its end for engaging with the yarn, and each iscaused to exert a strain thereon through the operation of the coiledspring H.

Z are the latch-openers, (one only being needles are thrown back as saidneedles are advanced in the operation of knitting? D is a rod forconnecting the cam-bar D to the crank D secured to the ppper end of theshowm) by means of which the latches of the vertical shaft 1)", which inturn is supported in a stand or hanger, D, and is actuated from the maindriving-shaft B through appropriate gearing, so that as this shaft isrotated the cam-bars and the other moving members of the machine will beactuated therefrom.

The parts as thus described are or may be of the form illustrated in theapplication for Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to, and require nofurther description herein.

My improved fabric is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and is composed of the twosets of loops m and n, which are interlocked, as shown at it. These twosets of loops are each formed by separately interlooping each of theyarns m and n in such a manner as to form the same into a plain fabric,and interlocking each set of loops to the other by carrying the yarn outof which its loops are formed around the loops of the other set, formingthereby a double fabric, in which the two single fabrics are united,with the loops of one yarn appearing wholly upon one face and the loopsof the other yarn appearing wholly upon the other face thereof.

The manner of forming this fabric is as follows: Starting with thecam-bars at the leftin Fig. 1, with proper loops upon the needles, andthe yarns m and a threaded through the appropriate guide-eyes 0 and landorifices t, the movementof such cam bars to the right in said figurewill cause the advancement and retraction of both sets of needles, andthe con' sequent formation of a row of loops upon each set thereof.These movements of the needles, instead of taking place simultaneouslyin the two sets, are so timed that during the movement of the cam-barsto the right the needles of the horizontal set are thrust forward andretracted before the needles of the vertical set are similarly operated,the retracting movement of the horizontal needles occurring at the sametime that the advancing movement of the vertical needles is effected. Asa result of this, the yarn m, taken by the horizontal needles duringtheir advancing movement, is drawn around the shanks of the verticalneedles as the former are retracted to draw the new loops through theold loops upon their shanks, as shown more clearly to the left in Fig.4. The advancing movement of the vertical needles, which takes place atthis time, carries their latches above the yarn m, thus drawn aroundthem, so that when such nee dles are retracted to draw the yarn it,taken by them through the old loops it upon their shanks, the yarn inwill be cast off upon the new loops thus formed, thereby interlockingthe two rows of loops mand it together, as illustrated at n in Fig. 2.The movement of the cam-bars to the left reverses these operations, thevertical needles being advanced and retracted before the horizontalneedles, and the yarn n, taken by them, being drawn arou nd the shanksof the horizontal needles, as shown at the right in Fig. 5, which yarn,as such horizontal needles are retracted, will be cast off upon the newloops formed by them, interlocking the two sets of loops together, as intheir preceding operation, and so on, the advancing and retractingmovements of the two sets of needles successively forming rows of loopsand interlocking them together, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

By thus employing two distinct yarns and combining them as abovedescribed the yarn forming one side of the fabric never appears upon theother side, and I am enabled to employ a yarn of one material or colorfor one face thereof and a yarn of a different material or color for theother face, thereby producing a fabric which is not only ornamental inappearance, but at the same time is well suited for use in many placeswhere braid is ordinarily employed, as well as in various otherlocations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A fabric formed from two distinct yarns, each of which is interloopedwith itself and interlocked with the other by extending around suchother at points intermediate adjacent loops of the same, substantiallyas described,

whereby the loops composing one face thereof CHARLES J. APPLETON.

\Vituesses:

THEODORE SUTRO, ALBERT I. SIRE.

ICC

